1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic percussion instruments and, more particularly, to an electronic cymbal apparatus which significantly shortens the vibratory response having a prolonged resonating acoustical tone produced by percussive impact on an electrically conductive striking surface thereby enabling the pick-up of such shortened vibratory response by a transducer means, such as, without limitation, a piezoelectric transducer. The electronic cymbal apparatus utilizes conventional cymbals, such as, without limitation, in the form of a broad-brim hat wherein the use of conventional cymbals allows the musician to employ conventional acoustical "striking" techniques while playing the electronic cymbal apparatus.
2. General Background
Electronic musical instruments are readily used in the music industry to vary the musical sound produced by such musical instruments. Many electronic musical instruments vary the musical sound via a percussive impact which produces a vibratory response picked up by a pressure transducer such as, without limitation, a piezoelectric transducer. When using such electronic musical instruments for example, electronic drums, it is highly desirable to allow the musician to employ conventional acoustical "striking" techniques while playing the electronic drums. Thereby, the musician need not learn any new "striking" techniques to play such electronic drums. Furthermore, the simulation of the musical sound desired is simplified since such simulation is based on such existing "striking" techniques and the vibratory amplitudes produced from percussive impacts.
Patents present in the art directed to electronic drums are U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,602, by Bozzio; U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,412, by Klynas; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,146, by Seiler; all of which use non-electrically conductive striking surfaces having a vibratory response characteristic to such non-electrically conductive striking surfaces.
Since, conventional non-electronic drums provide non-electrically conductive striking surfaces having a shortened vibratory response in comparison to the vibratory response produced by electrically conductive striking surfaces of cymbals, incorporating piezoelectric transducers or the like with such non-electrically conductive striking surfaces having a shortened vibratory response to properly translate the shortened vibratory response of the percussive impact into the desired electrical signal was successful. As a result, musicians did not need to significantly change their playing style or technique to achieve the desired musical sound variations. However, such transducers were not readily transferred to brass percussion instruments such as, without limitation, cymbals. For example, since the cymbal's tone characteristic was a result of a metallic striking surface such as, without limitation, brass or bronze alloy surface, the metallic striking surface when struck produced a prolonged resonating acoustical tone having a prolonged vibratory response. Such prolonged vibratory response was not easily interpreted without error, if at all, by the piezoelectric transducers or any other transducers commercially readily available.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,585, by Greene et al. disclose an electronic cymbal system having cymbal members made of ABS plastic, acrylic, or any other impact resistant material which does not produce an acoustically ringing sound similar to that of an actual cymbal.
Another patent present in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,131, by Patterson, which is directed to a portable and mobile percussion music system, but does not meet the needs of the electronic cymbal apparatus of the present invention.